She's Not Hurting Anyone
by GalaxyEnby
Summary: In which Lila is a bitch


_"Take the high road,_" he said, "_she's not hurting anyone,_" he said. Marinette didn't think it was possible for her to doubt Adrien or what he stood for, but this... this was a bit too much for her to bear.

So maybe she wasn't hurting their classmates, maybe she wasn't hurting their teacher, maybe she wasn't hurting _Adrien_. But guess fucking what?

Lila was hurting _her_. _She_ had no more friends because of Lila. _She_ was moved to the back of the class without her consent because of Lila. _She_ was almost _akumatized_ because of Lila.

And he said she wasn't hurting anyone.

Tikki tried, she really did. Always positive, always pointing out the bright side to things. "_Now you can design without Alya distracting you,_" she said, "_now you can focus on getting schoolwork done in class without Alya distracting you,_" she said.

Why did she have to mention Alya? Her journalist, supposedly fact-checking best friend.

She didn't fact-check Lila's stories. She gobbled them up like they were her only sustenance in weeks. It stung, badly, to know her best friend trusted this newcomer over her.

Maybe it started out as jealousy, once, but then she saw the lies. And it became so much more than that.

But no, according to Alya, jealousy was the only thing that motivated her. "_No,"_ she wanted to scream. "_That's not true!_" she wanted to cry. She couldn't though. No, she had to stay strong. Stay positive. She couldn't risk Ladybug being akumatized.

Tikki said it wasn't Ladybug she was worried about, it was Marinette. But who would care about Marinette? She was nobody to them. She bent over backwards to help their class, and she got nothing in return. Ladybug was the one who protected them, who risked her life to save them from akumas.

When she became class representative, she didn't want anything for helping. She just liked it. Now all she wanted was someone to care. Someone to listen. Someone to be there for her.

And all she got was Adrien telling her to "_let it go, she's not hurting anyone._"

She also wanted to scream at him, but she couldn't. So she forced herself to be happy, smiling when someone looked at her strangely. Because even if someone did care, did listen, was there for her, she couldn't let them know.

She couldn't be akumatized.

That's what everything came down to, in the end. Would she get akumatized or not.

And when the voice, so convincing, so alluring, entered her mind, she instinctively threw the earrings across the room. All that mattered was that he didn't get the miraculous.

Then she was awake, but that was funny, she didn't remember falling asleep. Her classmates surrounded her, frowning and shaking their heads in disppointment.

"_I can't believe you got akumatized_ _because of a boy,_" said Alya.

"_I can't believe you got akumatized_ _over jealousy,_" they said.

And then Adrien was there, looking upset.

"_I can't believe you could be such a cruel bully, Marinette. I thought you were better than this._"

And that was the breaking point.

Later, she learned from Tikki that the kwami had managed to keep a form for just long enough to get to Master Fu's. He found a temporary Ladybug.

Later, she transformed and looked out over Paris from her favorite spot. The very, very top of the Eiffel Tower. Chat Noir showed up behind her, flirting, punning, being normal.

And when Ladybug turned around with a broken smile, he recognized that look. The look of someone who couldn't take it anymore. Before he could say anything, she had pulled off the earrings, shoved them in his hand, and pushed him backward, into a spot he couldn't easily get out of.

And Marinette fell.

.

.

.

They always say time slows down, and you can count your heartbeats.

It does

One

Two

Three

Before strong arms wrapped around her. She screamed, of course. Kicked and hollered for all she was worth.

But it wasn't enough. He brought her home, went through the balcony. Knocked on her parent's door. A distressed Tom and Sabine held her. He told them what happened. He felt numb. He was almost too late. This conversation could be entirely different.

She was shaking, tears running down her face.

"_No,_"

"_Stop._"

"_I deserve to die._"

And her parents held her. Tom pulled Chat into the hug too, and for the first time in a long while, the blond cried.

He knew he really didn't deserve to. Marinette did. Her parents did. He didn't.

But he did. He cried over his stupidity, he cried over the near-loss of Marinette, his Princess, his Lady, Ladybug. He cried, and cried, and when his transformation was running low, he excused himself and left. He went home and cried some more.

His eyes were still slightly red when he went to school the next day, and it was no surprise that Marinette wasn't there.

He resigned himself to the fact that he would have to wait to see her again, he resigned himself to the fact that he wouldn't hear of her at all that day.

And then Lila spoke up. "_I live near the Eiffel Tower you know, and I saw Marinette jump._" Her eyes widened in faux-realization. "_Did she do that because of me?_" Tears welled up. "_Chat Noir saved her, but she almost killed herself._" Lila started whimpering pathetically. "_I didn't mean it!_"

They all went to comfort her. "_I'm sure she was just looking for attention,_" and "_she just wanted pity_" and "_she's worked with Chat Noir before, he was probably in on it._"

When Marinette returned the following week, she was smiling like nothing had happened. This time Adrien recognized its broken-ness.

All she got were glares. Her smile faltered, but she kept it up. Keeping her head high, she walked to her seat.

Alya stalked to the back. There was a hushed, one-sided conversation. When class started Marinette wasn't crying, but her smile looked strained.

She lasted another week.

One week of nightly visits from Chat Noir. She knew he didn't trust her not to try something.

He was right.

She did it early.

When he showed up she was in a puddle of her own blood, a small box resting on her unmoving chest.

Chat shouted. He swept the box aside. It hit the desk and opened, two earrings rolling under. Tom burst in. Sabine called an ambulance. He followed them to the hospital.

He had been too late.

Two boxes found a place in Master Fu's the next day.

Hawkmoth didn't win, but he didn't lose either. No more Ladybug to fix things, no more Chat Noir to help them, no more superheroes.

And soon enough he gave up, going to America with Adrien, leaving a ruined Paris behind.

Finally accepting that the dead stay dead.

.

.

.

They felt regret. Because they didn't see through Lila's lies before it was too _fucking late!_

She killed herself.

There were no akumas for a two weeks.

Ladybug disappeared.

Chat Noir still sometimes appeared.

After Marinette's funeral, Adrien left, and then Chat Noir was gone too.

Jagged Stone showed up to the funeral. Alya asked him if her was going to comfort the inconsolable Lila, "_remember her, she saved your cat."_

"_I don't have a cat?"_

And Lila stiffened. Alya frowned, a sick feeling in her stomach, and went to Clara Nightingale.

"_Do you remember Lila? She helped you in Achu. She saved your life from the snake."_

"_I've never been to Achu?"_

And now Alya was ready to throw up.

Marinette was right.

Lila was lying.

And without fear of the consequences she stalked over to Lila and punched her. Hot tears stung her eyes, she couldn't speak over the lump in her throat.

The class rushed to her defense. And Alya told them of her lies. The adults watched, unsure of what was happening.

Madame Bustier gasped. This was Lila's fault, wasn't it? She had thought Marinette didn't mind, thought she was just jealous of Lila trying to get Adrien.

And now she was dead.

Lila fled the scene, and an akuma appeared almost immediately after. They scattered, the coffin was thrown against a wall, splintering. Marinette's lifeless body hit the ground.

"_Even when she's dead you like her more than me!"_

The akuma wreaked havoc.

Ladybug never showed up.

Chat Noir did. He beat her.

He cataclysmed the butterfly.

No Miraculous Cure.

And whenever an akuma showed up, Chat Noir would kill the butterfly, until he, too, disappeared, the akumas stopped.

At the exact time Adrien and his dad left.

They realized who was whom, of course.

But it was too late. Paris was ruined from the onslaught of akumas and lack of Miraculous Cure.

Now they had to pick themselves back up again.

Rebuild the City of Love.

Bury their dead.

And mourn.


End file.
